November Daily Vibes | Optimism Power Day 4

Day 4 Law of Attraction Centering Thought

I tend to being in clear alignment with my Source energy.

Your relationship with your own body; your relationship with money; your relationship with your parents, children, grandchildren, the people you work with, your government, your world . . . will all fall swiftly and easily into alignment once you tend to this fundamental, primary relationship between you and your Source first.  ~  Abraham

Learn the fundamentals of the game.  Band-Aid remedies never last.  ~  Jack Nicklaus

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My Story

My natural inclination has always been toward optimism, but I have practiced to be a better one because I discovered that being optimistic has many benefits. I am happier, more loving and at ease, confident and thrilled at following my passion – I am in sync with the power that creates universes.

After a transpersonal experience in which my consciousness shifted so that I felt that I was love and all was well, I began a quest to find out how to live from this place of love I knew is within me. Now after years of study, training, teaching and more life experience I write to share with you the amazing benefits of optimism.

I can attest to the benefits not only being delightful but life giving. Three years ago, I had too many of those cancer cells to stay healthy. It was not that much of a surprise to me because I had lost a lot of my optimism working on a project. Without much optimism I didn’t stay in clear alignment with the love and power that I am. My body responded to the stress with an illness. I considered the physical condition to be my personal trainer keeping me focused on honing my optimistic skills, which put me centered in my power and resonating with that love that I am. Grounded in my optimistic view that everything is always working out for me sustained me and inspired me to find physical treatments and dietary support that worked to allow me to thrive with and beyond cancer.

The teachings of Abraham-Hicks have been very clarifying and inspirational. (www.abraham-hicks.com). Also, a most helpful resource on my journey has been and is, “The Intelligent Optimist” magazine founded and edited by Jurriaan Kamp. Besides the articles on many of the positive things happening around the planet, classes are offered online. www.theoptimist.com.

Why be an Optimist

An optimist sees the silver lining no matter the condition. Realty is not denied; it is accepted and looked beyond to possible solutions. Unwanted conditions are used to clarify what is wanted. Optimism focuses on the good. A dictionary definition is ‘hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.”

In his book, “The Intelligent Optimist’s Guide to Life”, Jurriaan Kamp states, “Optimism is a fundamental attitude. It’s not an opinion about reality; it’s a starting point for dealing with reality. At every moment, you can decide that you’re in the best situation to handle a given challenge. That is optimism. Optimism is searching for the yes in every situation and finding it.”

So why be an optimist . . .

“It’s a rewarding strategy” ~ Jurriaan Kamp.

Optimism is the “how to”, a tool, and a way to feel good. Feeling good is a worthy goal beyond the delightful end that it feels good to feel good.

Evidence abounds that feeling positive emotions leads to achieving

the “successes” you desire in life. Being Optimistic you are in clear alignment with your Source Energy and able to create all you desire.

Proof Is In The Studies

Lots of Possibilities

Research professor at the University of North Carolina, Barbara Fredrickson’s, “Broaden and Build Theory” states that negative emotions narrow our actions down to fight or flight. Positive emotions expand the amount of possibilities we process. Thus, we are more thoughtful, creative, and open to new ideas. By broadening the scope of our cognition and behavior we are helped to build more intellectual, social, and physical resources we can rely upon in the future. Positive emotions release dopamine and serotonin, chemicals that not only make us feel good, but expand the learning centers to higher levels.

Optimism On The Job

Many studies on the effects of those positive emotions that optimism illicit focus on happiness. Aristotle defined happiness as “eudaimonia” that translates as, “human flourishing.”

Scientists define happiness as the experience of positive emotions – pleasure combined with deeper feelings of meaning and purpose. There is a positive mood in the present and a positive outlook for the future.

Pleasure, engagement, and meaning are the three aspects of happiness according to Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, (the study of what works rather than what is broken). His studies show that following all three aspects rather than just pleasure makes for the most meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Happiness leads to success in almost every aspect of life – work, health, friendship, sociability, creativity and energy was the conclusion of an analysis of over 200 scientific studies on 275,000 people worldwide conducted by positive psychology researchers. At the workplace higher levels of productivity, more sales, effective leadership all correlate with higher happiness scores. Also, higher performance ratings, higher pay, and more job security occur. Happy workers are less likely to take sick days, to quit, or to become burned out. Happy CEOs organize teams of both happy and healthy employees who find their work atmosphere to be conducive to high performance.

When your mood and mindset are happy you are smarter and more inspired. Those at work who appreciate the tasks at hand rather than just looking to a future reward for their achievements are the most productive.

Optimism and Your Health

Being optimistic and causing a positive emotional response is a quick antidote to physical stress and anxiety. Participants in an experiment were asked to make a time pressured speech that would be videotaped and evaluated by their peers. (3) Before giving their speech they viewed a video that either induced feelings of joy and contentment, sadness, or was neutral. Those that saw the positive feeling video recovered faster from the stress and its physical effects. By reducing stress, the quick burst of positive emotions improved focus and the ability to function at their best.

Dr. Tracy Gardet at the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine counsels that in the biochemical reaction to stress, the hormones released by the adrenal glands are useful for the fight or flight response needed for survival. However, in the process, the immune system is suppressed. Chronic stress means the individual is susceptible to infection and disease. The body does respond to what is in the mind.

The scientific community substantiates that both calming the mind and thinking optimistic thoughts that cause you to feel good have beneficial results. Scientists have found that when we are truly relaxed, both mentally and physically, there are changes in the brain wave pattern. The brain triggers the release of chemicals known as endorphins, which cause a feeling of well-being and a boost and recharge to the immune system. A Harvard study found that optimists, compared with pessimists, kept significantly better respiratory function as they aged. In fact, the difference was comparable to that between smokers and non-smokers. Another study followed ninety-nine Harvard graduates for up to thirty-five years. Those identified as pessimists at the study’s start had significantly poorer health or were more likely to have died by the time the research project ended. Research at the University of Kentucky found that optimism brought a thirteen percent lower risk of dying from heart disease.

Even Reader’s Digest reports that stress is the underlying cause of eight five percent of the aliments that prompt a doctor’s visit.

The noted founder of the concept of integrated medicine, Andrew Weil, MD, writes in his book, “Spontaneous Happiness,” that health and illness result from an interaction of biological, psychological, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors. He teaches that emotional well-being is a vital part of physical health. His programs include techniques to foster an optimistic perspective to establish and maintain emotional well-being. He recommends going for the positive emotions of contentment.

Three researchers studied how fast a group of experienced doctors could form the correct diagnosis and avoid “anchoring”, having trouble letting go of an initial diagnosis, even in the face of new information that contradicts the initial theory. (4) The doctors were split up into three groups. A control group given nothing, one primed with a lollipop to feel happy and a third given neutral but medicine-related statements to read. The happy doctors made the right diagnosis much faster and exhibited much more creativity and showed about two and half times less anchoring. Maybe bring a lollipop to your next doctor visit.

Optimism And Mental Health

It makes sense that a pessimistic perspective is linked to depression. Depressed people were found to be pessimistic through questionnaires given to thousands of people by Martin Seligman. But the correlation between depression and pessimism did not prove that pessimism was causative. Seligman taught pessimists to become optimists. Cognitive therapy was used to change the way they explained life events. The study showed that changing from a pessimistic view to an optimistic one relieved depression markedly.

Pessimism is not the only cause of depression (genes, hormones, and other factors have a role). Therefore, optimism is not the only solution. But it is a major one.

The Optimist In Relationships

By creating happiness, the optimistic perspective attracts greater success in your relationships besides the many other areas of your life.

The causes and effects of human happiness have been the focus of the majority of the research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor at the University of California-Riverside. She writes,

A recent review of all the available literature has revealed that happiness does indeed have numerous positive by products . . . The benefits of happiness include . . . larger social rewards (e.g. more satisfying and longer marriages, more friends, stronger social support and richer social interactions).

Professor Barbara Fredrickson describes a positive emotion like happiness as having an “active ingredient” that helps you to not only broaden your capacity to be more creative and engaged in life, but to build and grow your potential for increased success on all levels – including social. Scientists concur that the power of happiness has the potential to transform organizations and communities as well as the individual. They speak to a “morality of happiness”. People who are happy are inspired to serve and benefit others. Professor Fredrickson concludes that happiness and other positive emotions may have the power to “change your life and your community, but also the world, and in time create a heaven on earth.”

Mythologist, author and lecturer, Joseph Campbell’s encouragement to, “Follow your bliss”, is very important and effective advice.

Process

How Optimistic Are You?

Take the “The Life Orientation Test.”

In many studies scientists use the “The Life Orientation Test” to assess the relationship between optimism, pessimism and mental health. To take the test, rate your level of agreement for each of the ten statements using the scale below.

0 = strongly disagree

1 = disagree

2 = neutral

3 = agree

4 = strongly agree

There are no right or wrong answers. Be as honest as you can. Answer each question separately. Try to not let your response to one statement influence your response to other statements.

_____ 1. In uncertain times, I usually expect the best

_____ 2. It’s easy for me to relax.

_____ 3. If something can go wrong for me, it will.

_____ 4. I’m always optimistic about my future.

_____ 5. I enjoy my friends a lot.

_____ 6. It’s important to me to keep busy.

_____ 7. I hardly ever expect things to go my way.

_____ 8. I don’t get upset too easily.

_____ 9. I rarely count on good things happening to me.

_____10. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad.

Scoring Life Orientation Test

1. Reverse code items 3, 7 and 9 prior to scoring (0=4) (1=3) (2=2) (3=1) (4=0)
2. Add item 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10 to obtain the overall score.

Total = 19-24 High optimism

Total = 14-18 Moderate optimism

Total = 0-13 Low optimism

Note: Statements 2, 5, 6, and 8 are filler items only. They are not scored.